150 pounds Chinese vase auctioned for 114,500 pounds in UK

London: A chipped Chinese porcelain vase, which was valued at just 150 pounds, fetched a whopping 114,500 pounds - 700 times its estimated price - when it went under the hammer at an auction in the UK.

The 19 centimetre high Chinese-moulded porcelain vase with elephant head handles was sold to an online bidder from China by auction house Peter Francis in Wales.

The vase is part of a collection of thousands of items of Chinese ceramics and works of art from a house of a collector in London, who died three years ago.

Auctioneer Nigel Hodson said the item was the most expensive the auction house had ever sold – smashing the previous record high of about 85,000 pounds.

He said the item was a 'sleeper' - one which far outdoes expectations - and reached 700 times its modest estimate. "I started the bidding off at 500 pounds and the internet just melted so we knew something was happening," Hodson said.

The auction website described the item as a "Chinese molded celadon porcelain Hu form vase with elephants head loop Mhandles and relief entwined decoration. Yongzheng underglaze blue seal mark to base."

A hu vessel is a type of wine jug that has a pear-shaped cross section. Yongzheng was the fifth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and ruled from 1722 to 1735.